ENCOUNTER WITH GOD

The man urgently needs to convince himself that all his inner power, all his awareness of security, tranquillity and peace of mind, all the happiness of his life, ultimately depends on one thing – his direct experience with God, which is to intensify in himself the mystique of the first commandment. It is to experience the cosmic reality, far from the illusion of earthly chaos. With this divine encounter, or of its lack, lives or dies the happiness of man. This is the “only necessary thing,” in the words of the great spiritual masters.

Those who have met God are happy, even amid suffering - those who have not met God are unhappy even amid joy.

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” - these words uttered by St. Augustine (354-430 AD), an unhappy man who found happiness in God - continue to be entirely true nowadays.

It is a waste of time to bypass the central problem of happiness through all sorts of camouflage and escapism. It is better to face the painful reality of this inevitable encounter with God. It is surgery without anaesthesia, tremendous blood drainage from the ego, but the result is convalescence and life...

However, men who possess enough honesty with themselves to face this painful encounter with God faithfully are scarce, for they live inebriated in search of all material joys and of senses and therefore forget that they live the emptiness of all this agitation.

To face this pain and savour happiness, the total emptying of the profane ego and its definitive integration into the Holy Self is required. To dispossess of all things that inhibit man from this vision of God to possess a “treasure in the heavens” ...

“The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it.”

Whoever does not do violence to itself cannot take the kingdom of happiness by storm.

Happiness is the price of self-violence, of self-discipline.

--- Depart ye, all ye that are undisciplined, weak, cowards!

--- Come, all ye disciplined, strong and brave!

To these is the heaven of happiness.

To those is the hell of unhappiness.